Spontaneous Still Life Series!

Hello friends!
I haven't blogged in quite a while, but I have definitely been busy painting away!
I completed a large painting of a mother and daughter reading together, which I definitely learned a lot from! While working through this painting, I came to realize that I truly enjoy painting glass and flowers, which are sitting on a table in the painting below. This realization stirred a desire to explore the subject of glass vases, reflections, translucency, and shape and color variations of a myriad of flowers!
In this blog I want to present to you the mother/daughter painting, which led to the following flower series (each containing pieces of paintings that have always inspired me!)... Enjoy!


"Once Upon a Time," Oil on Linen, 48"x36"


"Once Upon a Time" detail - Sydney


"Once Upon a Time" detail - Jacque


"Once Upon a Time" detail of Mary Cassatt book
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"Calla Lilies and Cassatt" Step 1 - underpainting


Step 2 - Vase, lemons and lime


Step 3 - Calla Lilies, Cassatt book and shadows blocked in


Step 4 - Glossy wood table and reflections


Step 5 - Framed picture, golden wall and shadow/reflection from vase


"Calla Lilies and Cassatt," Oil on Linen, 36"x24" - Final Painting!


"Calla Lilies and Cassatt" detail
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"Sparked by Sargent," Oil on Linen, 40"x30"


"Sparked by Sargent" detail


"Sparked by Sargent" detail


"Sparked by Sargent" detail
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"Sorolla in the Sunlight," Oil on Linen, 36"x24"


"Sorolla in the Sunlight" detail


"Sorolla in the Sunlight" detail

I know this is a long blog, but I had so much to share with you!
I hope you enjoyed it - I would definitely love to hear your thoughts & comments!
Thanks so much for visiting... I have more paintings in the works, so another blog is in the near future! God bless! *Romans 15:13*

•All images copyright Alicia Templin 2010•

Prairie Fest!

Hello everyone!
Today I participated in Tandy Hills Natural Area's annual Prairie Fest in Fort Worth, TX. They had all sorts of wonderful booths of local companies/small businesses, as well as scrumptious food and an assortment of musical entertainment. I heard of these festivities from an artist friend, so I decided to check it out - several local painters gathered and painted for hours along the paths and lush, green hills (that's right - hills! And in TX too!) of the Park, dotted with vibrant wildflowers. It was a gorgeous spring day, and we, the painters, were greeted by Fest-goers and passersby as they enjoyed the serene scenery :-)

Each painting completed throughout the day was then displayed in the Artists booth and up for sale - a silent auction, in fact. We are still awaiting the results....Oh the suspense! Half of the proceeds go to maintaining the beauty of the park :-) It was a fabulous festival day filled with fun, friends and flowers. We were even serenaded by a group of bagpipers (dressed in full Scottish attire, kilts and all!) while we painted. An enchanting day I will never forget!

I wanted to share a few photos with you:

The Bagpipers played an assortment of tunes - The red of their attire contrasted wonderfully against all that green of the foliage!


"Spring," Oil on canvas, 12"x9"
I decided to paint a fellow painter while she painted :-)
I just loved how the blue of her shirt stood out amongst a sea of greens, and I wanted to capture it!


"Spring" detail


"Countryside," Oil on linen panel, 6"x8"
The hills looked like a snapshot of an English hillside, yet the cactus in the foreground reminded me I was in Texas!

Spring in Texas is quite lovely - I'm grateful for the array of gorgeous wildflowers (especially the fields of bluebonnets!) that the Lord gives us. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend - come back soon to see more paintings! :-D

*Copyright Alicia Templin 2010*

"Classic Beauty"

The days continue to fly by more rapidly .... but, as they say, "Time flies when you're doing art!" At least, that's the version I'm familiar with :-)

I just completed my large, 48"x36" painting, and, as promised, I took progression photos to share the process with you! My lovely cousin Laura was the model for this painting I titled "Classic Beauty." I embarked upon a journey of paint, and I gleaned so much along the way - when painting, I have a board of inspiration to help me continually focus on my artistic goals and learn from some of the best! For this painting, I pinned up examples of Jeremy Lipking, Morgan Weistling, Dan Gerhartz, Michael Malm, James Tennison, and, of course, Sargent, Sorolla and Cecilia Beaux are always present. :-)


So, here is the underpainting that I began with (I did the first phase of the drawing in acrylic, but I soon had to adjust the measurements, so I will be doing the underpainting in oil from now on! Live and learn...)


Phase 2 - Blocked in the darkest darks and began work on the portrait.


Closeup of the beginning stage of the portrait - a long way to go!


Phase 3 - A lot of work on the main figure, alteration of the profile, and the addition of the reflection - I had to make sure that colors, values and shapes remained consistent in the main figure and the reflection of the figure!


You can see how much the portrait changed from the beginning - I removed the waves of hair behind her face to highlight the soft elegance of her features.


Detail of the reflection


The completed painting :
"Classic Beauty," Oil on Linen, 48"x36"
(In honor of one of my good friends and great inspirations, I painted James Tennison's painting hanging on the wall!)
I just entered this painting in Southwest Art Magazine's 21 Under 31 Competition, but I won't find out if I made the cut until September! So time will tell...
I would love to hear your thoughts about this one!
Thank you for visiting - More paintings will be coming soon to a blog near you! :-)

Some Small Scenes

Hello friends!

I have been doing some small scale paintings lately, and I would like to share them with you!

Painting on small canvases is a great way to practice and experiment with all the basics - color, shape, composition, layering, palette knife work, etc... without being overwhelmed by a daunting, large surface. These kinds of small studies can often be completed within a few hours, allowing for the excitement and energy of a fresh, new start to continue throughout the entire process!

I did a photo shoot of my two cats in various poses in front of a glass door, with the intrigue of color and value contrast automatically present from the inflow cool, natural light.


"Bella," Oil, 12"x9"


"Bella" detail


"Whiskered Wistfulness," Oil, 12"x9"


"Whiskered Wistfulness" detail

Here is a still life that I did of a hand-painted ceramic vase (a gift from a dear friend) that I have always been fond of. I did the first phase of this painting in a day, but then I allowed it to fully dry, and I went on top of the light areas of the purple table with my palette knife to create texture and to emphasize the contrast between the light and shadow areas. I also darkened the entire shadow area of the vase and table.


"Arsty Attire," Oil, 10"x8"


"Artsy Attire" detail

I also completed a small self-portrait on a linen panel. In order to heighten the sense of natural light on my face, I increased the warmth of the background by dragging a terra cotta hue (more on the violet side, though) over a very deep ultramarine/purple background color.

"Feathearrings," Oil, 8"x8"


"Feathearrings," detail

I hope you have enjoyed strolling through a selection of small scale scenes with me! Come back soon - I'm starting on a new, large (4'x3') painting, and I will be documenting the process!
Thanks for visiting! God bless, and happy painting! :-)

Portraits, and Other Paintings....

Hello and welcome back everyone!

In addition to the narrative painting that I recently completed, I have been working on other paintings as well... Portraits have always intrigued me, and some of my favorite artists were fabulous portrait painters - John Singer Sargent, Cecilia Beaux, Joaquin Sorolla - they each depicted the uniqueness of human features with their own, individual flair. I wanted to give you a preview of my portrait promo postcard that I will be mailing out rather soon :

Front of Postcard:


Back of Postcard:

(Click on the above images for a closer look!)

Here are three stages of the painting process of a commissioned portrait that I just completed of an adorable little girl named Kaitlyn:

Stage 1- Underpainting using ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson, mixed with turpenoid.


Stage 2 - Shadow masses have been painted, leaving the white of the canvas for the brighter, lit areas.


Stage 3 - Final painting!
"Kaitlyn," Oil, 10"x8"

So if you would like to commission me to do a painting of your loved one, please contact me! I would love to work with you. :-)

In addition to portrait painting, I completed a still life just this morning. Still life set-ups are always wonderful exercises in color, value, shape, and composition:

"Artsy Attire," Oil on Linen, 10"x8"

Finally, I have created some new illustrations - I just love the balance between illustration and fine art oil painting - newfound lessons I come across in each artistic realm are transposed into the other as I paint. For example, reflective color bouncing from the violet table onto the glossy flower vase in "Artsy Attire" made me more aware of the reflective color that would bounce from the cobalt water up onto the lower planes of the fish's lips and underbelly, as well as the boy, in "Freshwater Friends". There's never a dull moment in the world of art!

"Freshwater Friends," Watercolor, 7.5"x10"


"Freshwater Friends" detail


"Panda Pal Pleasantries," Watercolor, 7"x11"


"Cockatoo Comrades," Watercolor, 7.5"x11"


"Bold Buffalo Brothers," Watercolor, 7"x11"

I hope you enjoy the featured paintings! Thanks so much for stopping by, and come back soon! Also, please contact me for more information if you are interested in a portrait!
(aliciatemplin@sbcglobal.net)

*All images copyright Alicia Templin 2010*

Firelight Painting Completed!

Hello everyone!

Well, I have finally finished the painting of the girls telling stories by firelight. I wanted to share with you a series of photos that show the painting's progression - from the blank canvas to the completed piece!
I would love to hear any and all of your feedback on this new addition to my portfolio - I will be presenting it to a Dallas gallery quite soon!


Stage 1 - Underpainting : I use a mixture of Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine Blue, with Turpenoid, to mass in the shadows and half-tones (the drawing will be refined throughout the painting process)


Stage 2 - I paint Peyton and the slippers in the foreground - At times I prefer to paint in the foreground first, because I know that I will be using the areas around it to 'carve' the final shapes and edges of the foreground character.


Stage 3 - I paint in the rug and deepen the shadows beneath the girls, in order to anchor them to the ground, to create a sense of weight, and heighten the sense of a strong, fiery glow.


Stage 4 - I now paint Emily and Sarah's pajama pants and socks - Emily and Sarah's shapes were linked in many areas, and their adjacent edges were reliant on each other - a constant push/pull between them to have a balance of soft and hard edges.


Stage 5 - Sarah and her bear are added - I allow for the dark shadows of the background to blend with the dark shadows of her pajamas and hair (as well as Emily's)


Stage 6 - Most of Molly has been painted at this point (her navy blue shirt nearly becomes one with the deep blue background, with highlights on the material indicating the form), but I have not painted her left leg, because I now know that I want to add a sleeping cat basking in the fiery warmth in front of her.


Stage 7 - Channing's body and teddy bear are now a part of this warm world, with only her face revealing the underpainting beaneath


"Captivated," Oil on Linen, 24"x36"
The Final Painting! Channing's sweet face, a sleeping tabby cat, a bowl of popcorn, and a polka-dotted pattern on Molly's pajama pants have been added. I then allowed it to dry to the touch, then I varnished the entire linen canvas with a brush-on Retouch Varnish, which unified the surface (dull and shiny areas were evened out) and brought all of the colors back to the richness they had when they first touched the canvas!

I hope you have enjoyed journeying through this painting process with me! I certainly loved painting all of these adorable girls - they were wonderful models and a true joy to paint!

I will be posting more paintings and videos soon!
Please leave comments, I would love to hear your thoughts!

*All images copyright Alicia Templin 2010*